


Merry Christmas, Darling

by EmeraldEyes8917



Category: Game Grumps, Ninja Sex Party - Fandom
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Humour, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 05:47:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13117329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldEyes8917/pseuds/EmeraldEyes8917
Summary: Getting into the festive spirit is an easy task when working at the Grump space, but what happens when a prank involves a certain talented singer and a sprig of mistletoe?Some Christmas time fluff which is terribly self-indulgent, but a real pick me up for the holiday season.Wishing all my readers and fellow writers a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.  <3 <3 <3





	Merry Christmas, Darling

**Author's Note:**

> Taking a small break from 'Walk You Through the Dark Side of the Morning' for now to bring a small piece of Yuletide fluff that I managed to work up in about a day, which is truly something for a writing perfectionist like me. (Don't worry, I will continue my story in the New Year, I am too invested in that relationship to stop now!! :D)
> 
> I just wanted to give this as a small gift to my readers who have endured the emotional turmoil of my first work and who have stuck with me through all the angst and left such wonderful, encouraging comments. Now it is time for some levity, especially at this time of the year!
> 
> I was tempted to bring it to a more rounded conclusion with Dan and the narrator spending Christmas together, but I think that with this ending, there is plenty of space to let any reader fill in the blanks on their own.
> 
> You can read this as a stand alone, or as a parallel universe to 'Walk You Through the Dark Side of the Morning', because goodness knows they need some happiness!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! <3 <3 <3
> 
> *massive hugs all round*

In the days leading up to Christmas, the Grump space was decked out in all the jolly colours of the season, tinsel hanging from every desk, and lights adorning the interior of the Portal themed bathroom. The in-office banter also became more festive in its hue in terms of its pranks and general hilarity, which never failed to make her feel brighter on days when the pressure mounted to get tasks completed before the holidays.

While she very often tended to look over her shoulder to make sure she was not being recorded unbeknownst to her, or have a Christmas hat be gently placed on her head for a hilarious photo op as soon as she lifted her head to make a complaint, these days she regarded any new toy or fixture with suspicion in case it burst into song or began to move of its own volition, pulled by an almost invisible fishing line.

Still, she was enjoying the atmosphere among her fellow co-workers and was looking forward to exchanging gifts with the Grumps that would surely be the highlight of Christmas. All of her presents had been wrapped, with just the greetings cards to be written with personalised messages for each of them.

As the period leading up to the holidays continued, Arin would be singing Christmas carols loudly and deliberately off-key when he was between Grump recording sessions that could be endearing and exasperating in equal measure, especially when any of the other guys joined in a rendition of a not so peaceful version of 'Silent Night'. 

Perhaps she would attempt 'Oh Holy Night' when she had some liquid courage in her...

One thing she had always been curious about especially in recent times when working with those who were Jewish, how they felt about Christmas and how it coincided with Hanukkah. 

Barry seemed to enjoy the Christmas celebrations and got involved with the decorating and filmed skits in the past, preferring to celebrate Hanukkah privately and she respected that a great deal. He was quite patient when she asked basic questions, and was never annoyed at her lack of knowledge, for she truly wanted to learn about how her friends celebrated traditions.

She knew from Brian's tellings of his childhood that his parents celebrated both Hannukah and Christmas, and that he celebrated Hannukah with his daughter, Audrey, by lighting the candles on the menorah on his Instagram.

"Does she understand the concept of Santa Claus or what the menorah means yet?"

Brian considers this a moment, before answering, "Not really. Rachel and I just have been introducing it gradually and we do light the candles each year just to give her a sense of what the tradition is about, but honestly, she just wants to keep singing, dancing and being generally adorable, so I doubt she could fit religious observation or festive celebration into her busy schedule."

Smiling to herself, she thinks of childlike wonder and all that Audrey had to look forward to, both with Hannukah and Christmas, she instantly feels less stressed on this particular day after talking with Brian about his daughter. Hopefully, Audrey would be braver when it came to visiting Santa Claus. She was the daughter of a ninja, after all.

When it came to Dan, it was no secret that he was not a strict observer of the Jewish faith, though he practiced the culture and traditions surrounding Hanukkah each year, and similar to Barry, had taken part in filmed Christmas commercials for the channel as well as helping Suzy make Kirby Rice Krispie pops.

They happened to cross paths one day while she was on the way to meet Brent with some files, and he had just come back from a recording session with the Brian and the Super Guitar Brothers via Skype video link, and needing some much needed break time, they were simply chatting about their traditions growing up as children.

"... and my dad would sing in Hebrew, we would try to sing along, failing miserably, and like, even as a kid, I could sense the history behind the tradition even when I didn't understand it too well. It meant a lot to my dad, so I wanted to make him proud and carry it on in any way I could."

Fascinated, as she usually is by Dan's stories, she nods, "Tradition can have a real power behind it, you're right. And maybe that's where you got your musical talent from?"

Dan tilts his head, smiling. "That's sweet to say, maybe so."

"Perhaps you and Avi could do a duet sometime."

Dan claps his hands joyfully. "Now there's a cool idea."

Clearing his throat, he crosses his arms and looks her straight in the eye, "But back to you for a moment. You honestly believed that a man in a red suit, driving a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, came into your house and left you the presents you asked for, and not only that, that he delivered millions of presents in one night?" 

Dan's perplexity makes her smile all the more.

Nodding vigorously, she answers in all honesty, "Trust me, my parents made it quite believeable. We had an electric fire, but he came down by magic and left grass footprints all over the floor. As a child, you don't question it, you're just so excited and magic is so real, so I believed for the longest time."

Visibly impressed, he answers, "Ingenius. They were in it for the long game, weren't they?" Dan's grin is mischievious and she lightly pushes his shoulder as he chuckles.

Just as she is about to tell the story of how she was surprised with the present of her family cat many years ago, something darts behind Dan's shoulder and up into the rafters, that had an odd green colour and was certainly not a creature of any kind.

Blinking several times, she frowns in confusion, already sensing that something strange was afoot.

Dan immediately notices the change in her, "Hey... you okay?"

Putting on a neutral face, she nods. "Oh, I'm fine, I just... I thought I saw something behind you."

Dan immediately whips around, looking as well. "Hmm... nothing there."

When Dan turns back to her, his eyes move upwards to a point just above her head and he freezes, his mouth slightly open.

"Oh..."

"Dan? What is it?"

Dan only raises his index finger and gestures up to the ceiling, and she could almost swear that his cheeks were beginning to blush.

With a sense of impending doom, she raises her head upwards, and catches sight of a plant that is all too familiar at this time of year.

It was a sprig of mistletoe.

Her reaction consists of a loud squeak and she starts to flounder helplessly, "Oh... my goodness... I... I did not see that there before... I swear!" 

She enunciates the last two words quite loudly, for the last thing she wanted was to have Dan believe that she had moved them strategically to this exact point in the office to be under the mistletoe, which had definitely not been there before.

A familar snort emanates from just nearby, and in an instant, she turns around quite slowly to regard Matt and Ryan standing just behind the Christmas tree, decked in knitted gaudy jumpers, holding a long fishing rod, and wearing the most crafty grins she had ever seen on a pair of people.

"Matt Watson... Ryan McGee... what do you think you are doing?" she asks through gritted teeth, hands on hips like a displeased mother.

They both intoned in a sing-song voice, "Nothing."

"Don't be cute with me. It looks like something, so you may as well come out here and face the music, before you are dragged out."

They share a conspiratorial look and come out from behind the tree, the mistletoe dips quite low, still hanging above where she and Dan are standing. He still had not made a quick retreat, and a part of her is secretly glad. At least she would not have to suffer this festive embarassement alone.

Matt announces gleefully, "It's Christmas, and we are bored, so... we are looking to spread some festive cheer."

Clearly not amused, she raises an eyebrow, "Are you recording this?"

"Maybe..." Ryan cannot quite look her in the eye, and she lets out a sigh.

"All of this for entertainment. You both are too much."

A pause.

"So..." Matt says quite loudly.

"So?" She replies in the same tone. She could act childish with the best of them, even when she was clearly irritated.

"Aren't you two gonna... ? You know..." He makes an exaggerated kissey face and she looks to the ceiling for strength.

Looking over her shoulder at Dan, who has his hand over his eyes, shoulders shaking with laughter, she says with a flustered expression, "I did not plan this, I /did not/ plan this, I swear to high Heaven."

Dan drops his hand to look at her with a fond expression. "I have no doubt of that, sweetheart. You're too nice to collude with the likes of these dudes."

"Aw come on, that's just not fair. We can be nice as well." 

"We are the paragons of virtue in this place compared to the resident sadist."

"Oh, is that Brian?" Dan deliberately plays a game and earns a loud groan in return

"No, it's Ross! Where have you been, man?"

She was grateful for the good humoured sniping as this was becoming a potentially awkward situation, so she does her best to try and fix it, much to Matt and Ryan's glee, "Look... since it's Christmas... I mean, you don't have to actually... you know, kiss me or anything... I mean, a kiss is a kiss, and that's all you need to do under the mistletoe, so... you can kiss my cheek or my hand or something, or blow me a kiss from across the room, it all counts, it's all the same, really!" 

She says all of this in quite a rush, already starting to blush, hoping that she could run straight out of here and not show her face for a few hours until they had moved on to another unfortunate prank victim.

Dan's smirk is equal parts devious and charming. "Oh, really now?" 

"Yes, really. And I know more about Christmas than you do, having grown up with all of this my entire life, so there!" She nods triumphantly, throwing an indignant look over her shoulder at Matt and Ryan who are giggling to themselves at the success of their hijinks, already conjuring up several creative ways to get her revenge when this was done.

"Alright then, I believe you."

"Alright. Good. Then... you're okay to do this?" Playing it cool was never one of her strong points when faced with the prospect of actually being kissed by Dan, even if it was only on the cheek or anywhere at all.

Dan spreads his hands and shrugs. "Why not? It's Christmas, and I know from experience that it's better to go along with SuperMega's pranks or else expect retribution later on, or to have your face hideously morphed in the next Game Grumps video." 

Another guffaw from the two guys, and she dips her head with a smile.

"Well... when you put it like that, I agree. Besides, it's nice being kissed under the mistletoe. It's rather special. Or so I've heard..."

Dan looks surprised. "So like... you've never... ?"

She shakes her head, now truly blushing. "I never had the facility at office parties to be caught under it with anyone, my timing was never the best and it always ended up being someone else having their chance. But that's alright, it's not a big deal."

Way to sound like the most pathetic person in the world, girl.

Dan's voice is quiet, "I find that hard to believe."

She waves a hand, "Oh hush... you're just being nice to me, like the kind person you are."

Dan remains silent after that, looking towards the two guys with a nod, the signal that it was indeed time.

"So now I'm recording," announced Matt, and she deliberately does not look towards him or even imagine where the camera was or else the moment would be broken.

"I hope your battery runs out before he actually pecks my cheek, Mr. Watson..." she intones under her breath, keeping her eyes on Dan all the while, feeling the familiar twist in her heart whenever she looked at him, even more pronounced now that he was about to give her a kiss for Christmas, quite possibly the sweetest thing he could ever do for her.

Dan is now addressing the camera in a self effusive way, probably to buy some time for her to keep her composure, "Just to say, dude, that this would have been more funny if I had been talking with Arin or Vernon and you hoisted your fishing rod with that wierd plant above us, but I will gladly kiss this lovely young lady for your own twisted entertainment."

Ryan makes a high pitched wolf whistle, and Matt lifts his phone up towards the misteltoe again, beginning a quiet chant of "Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss..."

Letting out another sigh, just about keeping from dissolving into nervous laughter, she clasps her hands together in front of her, inclining her head slightly upwards and turning her face just enough so her cheek was facing Dan, eyes closed as she says to the camera, "Merry Christmas, everyone. May you find festive joy and affection too."

She waits expectantly to feel Dan leaning in and feeling him kiss her cheek, already predicting how nice it would feel, but what she does not expect is the light, ticklish sensation of a finger tracing along her jaw gently, before she can even react, Dan is taking hold of her chin and slowly turning her head back towards him. 

Her eyes flutter open, heart knocking in her chest when she realises how close Dan is, that mere inches are between them, and it all comes back to her that she is utterly in love with this man.

And they were standing beneath a meaningful plant that encouraged romantic gestures at Christmas...

His left hand joins in cupping her cheek, now cradling her face in his hands, and she is all at once confused and silently elated. Maybe he wanted to kiss her forehead... maybe he wanted to make this that bit more special rather than just pecking her cheek and rushing off...

Maybe... she did not dare even hope that he wanted to...

"Dan?"

"Hi there, you."

Vaguely wondering if this is a vivid dream, she softly replies, "Hi. So... what are you... ?"

There is a tenderness in his voice that she had not heard before, and it makes her tremble to the core, "Never let it be said that Dan Avidan doesn't do things properly, including kissing..."

Before she can even ask what he meant by that, he has dipped his head towards her until she can see nothing but him, his curls already ticking her temples, closing the small distance between them, and gently presses his lips to hers.

Almost as if an electric spark had ignited from the contact, unable to move or form a single coherent thought, her breath hitches and her shoulders slightly tense up, not quite believing that Dan was actually kissing her, as he strokes her cheeks with his thumbs, tilting his head that bit more, his lips so very warm.

Before too long, her body begins to unwind, and she melts into the kiss, reaching up to hold onto Dan's arms, leaning her body towards him, not even noticing that Matt and Ryan were freaking out quietly just a few feet away from them and the fact that they were being recorded for their own voyeuristic purposes.

But she did not care for anything else going on. Nothing in the world compared to this, to be kissed by Dan under the mistletoe at Christmas time; nothing else was happening, nothing else mattered. 

Half expecting it to be just a short kiss, when Dan does not pull away, lingering for several heartbeats, unable to help herself wanting more, she stretches up on tiptoe, needing to be closer to him, shyly responding to his kiss, wanting this moment to last for as long as possible, for it may never happen again. 

Dan makes a quiet sound, one hand moving behind her head, stroking his fingers through her hair, gently brushing his tongue across her lower lip, silently encouraging her and asking quiet permission.

Trembling at the hundred thousand sensations igniting her nerve endings, warmth blossoming from each and every point of contact with Dan, she willingly parts her lips for him as he softly deepens the kiss.

She did not want this to ever end...

Carefully sliding a hand up his chest, she caresses the side of his neck, reaching up further still to wind her fingers around the curls that framed his face, making a soft purr causing Dan to smile against her mouth and a low laugh to rumble in his chest.

When he begins to lift his head away, the kiss naturally breaking, she follows him willingly, kissing him lightly once again, gently catching his lower lip just to have one last taste of him before they parted for good. 

She hears Dan make a slight groan of surprise, his breath slightly ragged, and he dips down once more to peck her lips several times, so softly and sweetly, holding her close against him, nearly lifting her off her feet.

When the kiss gently breaks once more, he does not move away this time, breathing hotly against her mouth, sharing her breath as she holds on for dear life, before he gently kisses her nose and one more on her forehead, pulling her into a tight hug, his hand at the back of her head, resting his cheek in her hair, and she can hear his heart thudding in his chest, and somewhere in her romance-clouded mind, she is feeling rather proud of herself for inspiring such a reaction in him, even if it was only for this moment.

Feeling lightheaded, she slides her arms around his waist, curling her fingers into his jacket, slowly getting her breath back, quite certain that if he were to release her at this precise second, she would not be able to stand upright.

Above her head, Dan clears his throat, turning to Matt with the camera, "That do anything for you, my dude?"

Matt reaches his hand around the phone to give a thumbs up, and Dan presses a light kiss to the top of her head, silently communicating that the video was done.

Matt stops the recording, barely able to contain himself, and Ryan's face is the picture of joy, as he lifts the mistletoe up and away with a triumphant, 'Mission accomplished'. The two guys high five and Dan makes a motion with his head for the pranksters to vacate the premises.

He receives a pair of thumbs up and exaggerated winks before Matt and Ryan skip away, already talking about the Instagram likes and comments this video would get in the next hour.

She had not moved in all that time, breathing in his scent with her eyes shut tight, lips still tingling from his kisses.

Dan hums in his throat, sounding quite contented, and when he whispers her name, she inclines her head up towards him, her eyes large and glimmering.

"Hey, you."

"Hello, Danny." She sounds almost dreamy, and on any other day, she would feel terribly self conscious. But given the fact that they just shared just a perfectly beautiful moment, she did not mind one bit. 

Looking almost bashful, he asks sincerely, "Did I... did I do that alright?"

As if he even had to ask. He made her heart ache so much...

She nods several times. "More than alright, in fact. Just... wonderful."

Dan seems pleased at that, as he tucks her hair behind her ears in an absentminded show of affection, and when he touches her cheek again, she cannot help but lean into his touch, now craving him more than ever.

She could almost swear that she felt a frisson of energy as he lifts his index finger beneath her chin so he can look her right in the eyes and she could not look away even if she tried.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

Her sigh is happiness personified, "Happy holidays, Dan."

Loathe as she was for them to separate, she knew that they had work to do, so she loosens her arms from around his waist, and he takes one step back, but not before reaching down to take her hand, dovetailing their fingers together, dropping to one knee like a gallant knight.

Still on an emotive high after sharing such a beautiful kiss with him, all she can do is look down in a shy, bemused manner.

"My lady..." He does not take his eyes off her as he kisses the back of her hand.

She puts a hand to her face, completely overcome and all she can do is let out a breathless laugh as he stands up once again, not releaseing her hand just yet.

"I'll... see you later?"

_Don't go... please stay with me... I need you to stay with me, Danny..._

"Yes, of course. No problem. Let me know if you need anything."

"I won't hesitate." The tone of his voice makes a delightful shiver run down her spine.

"See you, Dan."

He gives her a wink, and starts walking backwards, looking at her all the while, doing the confident exit, until his back hits the outer corner of the wall leading towards the recording room and he nearly trips but quickly recovers, giving her a wave and a goofy grin before he vanishes.

She manages not to laugh only to smile brightly and as soon as he's gone, she makes her way over to the nearest beanbag, collapses into it and looks up at the ceiling with a love-struck expression and a hand on her heart, closing her eyes to relive those precious moments.

 

True to Matt and Ryan's predictions, the video of the mistletoe prank garnered many hits with many fans commenting on how sweet they both were together and how it was infinitely more adorable than funny. Several commenters either wanted to switch place with Dan or with her, which was amusingly strange to her.

She only had to endure some light banter with Brian and Arin, teasing her about what it was like to kiss Danny Sexbang and that the image of Dan kissing a woman would haunt their nightmares forever.

Staying poised and calm throughout, she would only smile in a shy manner, writing her notes and humming away to herself.

Whenever she met Dan's eyes in the coming days, he would always smile at her, and it would always lead to her blushing and dipping her head in a demure manner.

Secretly, she hoped that one day, they would not need to be standing under a festive plant to be able to kiss one another. 

There was always the charged moment when the clock would be striking midnight for the New Year. It never hurt to dream just a little. 

 

_The lights on my tree_  
I wish you could see  
I wish it every day  
The logs on the fire  
Fill me with desire  
To see you and to say 

_That I wish you Merry Christmas_  
Happy New Year too  
I've just one wish  
On this Christmas Eve  
I wish I were with you 

_I wish I were with you  
Merry Christmas, darling..._


End file.
